The 'Hiddink World Cup Hangover' can be severe. After making dreams come true, Guus is off elsewhere, leaving an adoring public behind. The fact that South Korea are now looking for a sixth manager since 2002 is testament to the high expectations that the Dutchman's success generates. His 2006 charges, Australia, are just starting down the post-Hiddink highway but former assistant Graham Arnold has already fallen by the wayside.

Australia are set to do what Korea did in 2005 and give Dick Advocaat the responsibility of replicating Hiddink's heroics at the next World Cup. Advocaat satisfies Aussie desires for a tough big-name coach but suffers from the label of being a "poor man's Hiddink".

In Korea at least, it would be hard for anyone to match Hiddink's achievements and not only because of hosting advantages. Whatever the current Russian manager asked for as he turned the national team into a club side, he got. The real clubs were less helpful with Advocaat, who arrived in Seoul just eight months before the 2006 World Cup, and he was forced to publicly warn that any players withheld from friendlies would not go to Germany. Dealing with the media was more simple as, apart from official press conferences, Advocaat didn't bother. He still managed to catch the odd article he didn't like, however, and after he read one of mine about his past career, I received his request for a meeting.

At his Seoul hotel, the 'Little General' calmly read the offending piece aloud line-by-line. Surprisingly, he didn't argue with the description of his transfer dealings at Rangers - which culminated in him spending £12m on Tore Andre Flo in 2000 - as erratic. "That's fair," he admitted, "but prices were crazy at the time." Advocaat spent heavily at Ibrox from 1998, and, at first, the trophies came. The resurgence of Celtic under Martin O'Neill ended that and the Dutchman stepped down in 2001.

The word 'disastrous' to describe a 2005 five-month spell at Borussia Monchengladbach was also accepted. The problem was praise for his coaching staff in Korea and his suspicion that I was denying him credit for the improvement in the Korean team. Despite his reputation as a no-nonsense disciplinarian, he was genial and good-humoured throughout. Perhaps a little paranoia was understandable after the savaging he received from the Dutch press before and after a semi-final exit at Euro 2004. The treatment drew comparisons with that meted out to Graham Taylor 11 years before, and Advocaat, who shared the touchline with Taylor on his last night as England boss in Rotterdam and loved the realism of the unforgettable documentary 'The Impossible Job', resigned.

His Korean goodbye was much more amiable. Mobbed everywhere he went, Advocaat enjoyed his time in Seoul and claimed happily that he received a louder reception at a Michael Bolton concert than the shaggy-haired songster himself. At the last Seoul friendly before the World Cup, he strolled to the middle of the pitch and raised his arms to make a heart shape - the 'I love you' gesture familiar to Korean teenage girls. 65,000 people went wild. Dutch or Scottish journalists may be reassured to know that the cuteness ended there and Advocaat then walked into the post-match press conference, told the assembled media that he didn't want to talk to them and left. It is unlikely that he will get away with that in Australia.

The Korean press were not impressed but the players were and talked about stimulating and imaginative training. He gave confidence to a team that had finished bottom of the 2005 East Asian Cup below Japan, China and North Korea. Advocaat told Lee Ho that he could be Korea's Patrick Vieira and was not unhappy when the young midfielder was sent off for his club three days later for a reckless tackle.

Results are what matters and Advocaat failed because Korea fell at the first hurdle in Germany. They performed reasonably well, however. The 3-5-2 formation chosen for the opening game against Togo was an unwelcome surprise - he'd spent the previous eight months alternating between 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 - but half-time changes were made and brought a first overseas World Cup win for Korea. Next came a battling 1-1 draw with France. Even with four points in the bag, Korea still needed to defeat a solid Swiss team to progress, but couldn't do so.

Korea prepared for the World Cup at the training complex that Advocaat helped design for Rangers, a club still close to his heart. Before he departed he laughed: "I hope all my pictures are still hanging in the corridor but I don't think so!"

It remains to be seen if his picture will hang alongside Hiddink's at Football Federation Australia after 2010.